The Curse: The Butterfly Effect, Book 2.

by Margaret McHeyzer

  “I’m going to use you for your talent.”

  Now we’re getting down to why I’m here. “My talent?” I play dumb, even though we both know what it is.

  Enzo tilts his head and winks with his one eye. He shakes his head and chuckles. “Really? You’re going to play these games? I shook your hand, you saw what I’m going to do, and you want to insist you have no talent?”

  “What exactly is it you want from me?” We may as well get to the bottom of this.

  “To use your talent. You’ll be by my side, and when I tell you to touch someone, you will. You’ll report to me every detail you see.”

  “I don’t know how this thing works. I wasn’t given an instruction manual with it, it just kind of . . . happens. What if you want it to work for you, but it doesn’t?”

  “Then I’ll give you some motivation to make sure it works.” He pauses for a moment, then calls out, “Jimmy.”

  The door opens and the scary guy walks in, dragging someone behind him. Dallas.

  “Dallas!” I jump up out of my chair and head straight for her. Without thinking, I hug her tightly. It transports me to her vision. She’s kept in a cage, it’s dark and dirty, and she’s frightened. She’s cowering in the corner of this cage, she’s hugging her knees and rocking back and forth, crying.

  A door creaks open and I hear heavy footsteps coming toward us. Dallas holds her breath and looks to where the footsteps are approaching. “Please no,” she begs. Tears fall down my cheeks as I watch the cage door open, a hand reach in, latch onto her hair and yank her out. She tries to gain traction, but her feet slip from beneath her. “Please, no, no!” she continues to plead.

  I’m back in the office, with tears streaming down my face. I look at Dallas’s distressed face, and I take in her disheveled appearance. There’s no spark in her eyes. Her lip is fat and her clothes are dirty and torn.

  I turn to look at Enzo, and straighten my shoulders. “I have one condition.” I know this is a risk. He could easily kill me and hurt Dallas. “If you’re a businessman, which I know you are, then you’ll understand that this is a good deal I’m about to offer you.”

  “You’re most certainly not in a position to make me any type of offer.” He draws his lips up into a smirk, as if he’s got something over me.

  Ultimately, I’m the one with the power here, and if he wants me to work for him, he’ll have to agree to what I want. “If you don’t take my deal, I won’t help you. If you kill or hurt her, I won’t help you. If you torture me, I won’t help you. And if you kill me, I can’t help you.”

  His sneer slowly disappears as he considers my words.

  I pull my shoulders back further and hold my head high.

  “What do you propose?” he asks, his face dark with anger.

  “You move her in with me. If Dallas . . .” I think about my wording before I add, “or my parents are harmed, I’ll stop using my gift for whatever it is you want.”

  His mouth turns up into a snarl, and he moves forward toward me. I shelter Dallas with my body, and brace myself for whatever he’s about to do.

  The back of his hand connects with the side of my face. Burning pain flares through my cheek, I’ve never felt such intense pain on my face before. He comes back for another strike, and I brace myself for it.

  “You don’t call the shots here, Alexa,” he roars with anger, his hand connecting for a third time.

  When the strikes end, I keep my head down and cup my stinging cheek. Dallas is crying behind me, but I manage to hold the tears in. I won’t let him break me. Dropping my hand beside me, I straighten my shoulders again and stand tall to Enzo. “My conditions are . . .” Enzo crinkles his forehead, drawing his brows together. He lifts his hand to hit me again, but I push past the world of hurt he’s about to inflict and stare at him. “My conditions are: if Dallas or my parents are harmed, I’ll stop using my power for you.”

  He hits me, again.

  I straighten, again.

  The fierceness etched on his face tells me to stay down, my stubborn nature and need to protect the ones I love tells me to get back up and fight for what’s important.

  My family.

  “My conditions are: if Dallas or my parents are harmed, I’ll stop using my power for you,” I repeat again, this time through gritted teeth and the blazing pain which keeps getting worse with every blow.

  “Stay down,” he yells as he lifts his arm above his head.

  “My conditions are: if Dallas or my parents are harmed, I’ll stop using my power for you!” I’m nearly yelling now, but I will not back down.

  He hits me on the other side.

  My cheek explodes with the all to familiar intense burn. He’ll have to either kill me or agree with my terms. Either one. “My conditions are: if Dallas or my parents are harmed, I’ll stop using my power for you.”

  He lifts his hand again. Blood trickles from my lip, my skin’s inflamed and the swelling starts to set in.

  “You won’t stay down,” he says as he steps back.

  “My conditions are: if Dallas or my parents are harmed, I’ll stop using my power for you.” I sound like a broken record, but I don’t care. “Kill me or agree. If you kill me, I’m useless to everyone, including whatever master plan you have. Or agree, and I’ll comply with whatever you want me to do.”

  He swallows hard, and looks me up and down. He runs his tongue over his teeth and clenches his jaw tightly together.

  His eye looks over to Dallas, then back to me. “Get ’em clothes, and get ’em out of here.”

  We’re pushed out the door together.

  Dallas’s crying can be heard a mile away. I’m not sure if he’s agreed to my ‘working conditions’ or if he’s going to kill us. Either way, Dallas and I will get a resolution. If we die, then at least we’ll die with our dignity.

  “What’s happening, Lexi?” Dallas asks through her sobs.

  “I can’t explain right now.”

  She reaches for my hand and links our fingers.

  I’m in a room. It’s slightly brighter than the one I’ve been kept in, and it has a proper bed. There’s a bathroom attached to the room. It’s not huge, or beautiful, but it’s much better than what either Dallas or I had before. We’re both sitting crossed-legged, facing each other on the bed, Dallas is crying and holding my hands through my t-shirt.

  I’m back into the now, and Dallas looks over to me. “I promise, I’ll explain everything,” I say.

  Dallas nods her head, and reaches for my hand again.

  But this time, I don’t take it. Instead, I think about the vision I just had.

  I had it while I’m in motion. Which means my power is increasing.

  A small smile tugs at my lips and my arms pebble with goosebumps.

  Although I hate Dallas being here with me, it’s made the last two days bearable. We’ve been locked in this room the entire time, only having the door opened when they throw something in here for us to eat.

  They treat us better than they initially did. But I know it’s because of what I can do for Enzo. I’m also not under the misguided impression that Enzo won’t kill us both when he’s finished with me. Until then, I have to make myself useful to him.

  As Dallas and I lay on the bed, my mind keeps going to my parents. They’re first and foremost in my thoughts. I hope they’re safe.

  “Lexi,” Dallas says in a small voice.

  “Yeah,” I sigh, looking up at the ceiling and noticing the patches of discoloration.

  “This thing you have . . .”

  I told her about my gift the night I made the deal with Enzo. “It’s so complicated, Dallas. I have no idea what I’m doing, all I know is I have to protect you and my parents.”

  “I’ve been thinking about it. It only happens when you touch people?”

  “Yeah, skin on skin contact.”

  “The first time you noticed it was when you woke after you had your appendix taken out?”

  “Yeah.”

>   “So, obviously, someone did something to you in the hospital.”

  “That’s what Jude thinks too.”

  “Jude Caley, the first guy who kidnapped you?”

  We’ve been over this a million times, and it’s likely we’ll go over it a million more. This is new to her, but I’ve lived with it since . . . since . . . God, it feels like forever. “Yeah, but it’s not like that with him.” I try to justify his actions, and I suppose in comparison to Enzo, Jude is a saint.

  “Hey, he’s evil too. He took you away from your parents, from me, in order to use you. Don’t forget that incredibly important fact.”

  She’s right, he did. But . . .”Here’s the thing, Dallas. Look at the risk I’m putting on you and my parents. I don’t belong in the normal world anymore. I don’t even know how many people know about this thing I can do, and the more who know, the more will want me. And having the knowledge that people like Enzo and Jude exist, it’s scary stuff for me.”

  “I want to hug you, but I know I can’t,” her voice trembles with worry. I take a deep breath. “It’s going to be lonely if you’ll never be able to touch anyone again.”

  “I’m getting better at controlling it. I’m able to do more than when I first got the . . . I don’t know what to call it. Jude’s called it a gift, but to me, it’s more like a curse.”

  “What’s it like? When you get these visions.” She sits up in bed, and leans her back on the wall. “Is it as real as you and I are right now?”

  “The first time it happened, I was in the hospital, and I thought I was hallucinating from the drugs, you know?” I smile weakly, because in all honesty, I wish I could go back and warn Hayley. I wish I knew what this was much earlier. I could’ve saved her life. “I saw a girl get shot.” Dallas gasps and brings her hand to cover her mouth. I too sit up in bed, pick a spot on the blanket and stare at it. I can’t look at her; the disappointment will hurt me too much.

  “What do you mean?” she asks. Man, even her voice is soft. This makes me sadder, because I know I could’ve saved Hayley, but I didn’t.

  “I was in recovery when I woke up, and she was a nurse there. She touched me to take my vital signs, and I was transported to the train station parking lot . . .”

  “The woman you saw get shot?”

  I’m almost too lost in the memory, but I really don’t want to relive it. “Yes. Hayley, the nurse from recovery.”

  “Hang on, the first person you had a vision for was a nurse at the hospital?” I nod my head and wipe at the tear which has spilled over. I hate this vision. I hate how I didn’t save her. “Whoa,” she huffs. “Heavy.”

  “Hayley touched me to take my vital signs, and I was immediately in a vision. I thought it was a hallucination. I thought people would think I was losing my mind if I said anything. Then I assumed no one would believe me.” I take a deep breath and gather my thoughts. I need to push through this. I can’t be the weak girl who’s stuck in a room with only her feelings to drive her insane. I need to accept the choices I’ve made.

  “What happened when you went into the vision?”

  “I was standing right there. Hayley was only a few feet ahead of me. She had her bag on her shoulder, and I could see her walking toward the train. A man called to her, and we both turned to look at him. I heard the shot before I saw him. It happened so quickly.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Dallas reaching for me, before she swiftly pulls back. Turning to face her, I question her rapid withdrawal. “I don’t want to make this thing you have, any harder.”

  Nodding, I turn from her. “That vision nearly made me lose my mind. I had no idea what was going on, what to say, or even who to say it to. Then over the days, every time someone touched me, I had a vision. The only people I didn’t get visions from were Mom and Dad.”

  “I wonder why?”

  Shrugging my shoulders, I can’t answer the question. “I don’t know. I don’t know how or why I got this.”

  “You can’t have just woken up with it. I mean, it makes sense that someone put it in you while you were sedated during the operation.”

  “Who?” I question. If only I knew, I could have it reversed and my life would be back to the way it was.

  But, would it?

  “I don’t know. Think back, did anything peculiar happen in the hospital?”

  “Seriously, Dallas? This whole thing is strange. But there was a doctor and his nurse who came in to see me.”

  “What was weird about them?”

  “Well, first, she had high heeled shoes on, and when he touched me, I saw him driving a car, but everything around him was blank. The best way I can describe it is like a green screen in an action movie. He and his nurse were in the car, neither of them were talking, and there were no noises or scenery. Almost every vision I’ve had, I’ve been able to identify where I am. With Jude, it was at the docks. With you, we were at the mall.”

  “Wait up a second, you had a vision of me?”

  “Yeah, we were walking in the mall, as Jude was walking toward us. And I had another of you, but that one didn’t eventuate.” Please don’t ask me what the second vision was.

  “What happened?” She leans forward, listening more intently.

  No! “Dallas . . .” I swallow hard and take a deep breath. “I can’t tell you.”

  Her hand covers her gaping mouth, and tears spring to her eyes. “It was bad, right?”

  “Can we not talk about what could’ve happened? I already feel guilty with you being dragged into this. Somehow, I have to learn to live with the danger I’ve forced on you and my parents, and if you make me say what I saw, I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle it. So, please, can we just . . .”

  “I’m sorry, Lexi. I was thinking of myself and not how this must be for you. It’s got to be hard, seeing things happen before they do, and having the chance to be able to change the future.”

  “It’s so difficult and I hate how the people closest to me are being punished because of me and this.” I tap my head.

  Dallas pulls back, leaning her head against the wall. She tilts her chin down and runs her hand through her long hair. “People aren’t being punished because of you. They’re being punished because of what was done to you.”

  Huh?

  “What do you mean?”

  “You didn’t choose this. All your choices were taken away when they put this thing inside of you. And I know plenty of people who have routine operations, like you did, who woke up with no special gifts. You’re more of a victim than me or your parents because you have to live with it for the rest of your life.”

  “What if whoever put this in me has a way to take it out?”

  “Lexi, look at your eye. It’s already half blue. I’m no genius, but I’m smart enough to figure out, the more your eye changes color, the more ingrained this thing is in you.”

  “And I’m getting stronger.”

  “Like you can lift a car over your head, stronger? ‘Cause if you can turn into the Incredible Hulk, or Iron Man, why the hell are we still sitting here?” she says with a giggle.

  “I’m not a Marvel character.” I chuckle and roll my eyes.

  “Just saying . . .” She offers me a smile, and it’s the first one I’ve seen from her since she’s been here. “But tell me how you’re getting stronger. As in, what way?”

  “In my visions, I’m able to move around and when I speak, the person can hear something. I want to be able to choose when I go in a vision, but it’s not like I have a lot of opportunity to practice.”

  “Practice on me.” Dallas moves forward and offers me her hand.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Touch me, and try to not go into the vision.”

  “What if I can’t?” I ask, suddenly nervous about what I’m doing.

  “You have to keep trying to control it. I don’t know how it works either. But I dare say, it’s like anything else. The more you practice, the better you’ll get at it. Consider
me your practice partner.” She thrusts her hand out to me.

  I lift my hand and reach out to touch her, but pull back almost immediately. “What if . . . ?”

  “There are no ‘what ifs.’ You just have to keep going until you master the skills you need.”

  “I don’t know how long it’ll take me to do this.”

  “Look around, Lexi, we’re not going anywhere.” She chuckles and gestures to the room we’re locked in. “Just keep going until you’ve got it.”

  She holds her hand out and urges me to take it.

  “Okay,” I say. “I’m going to close my eyes and I need you to move your hand until your palm is touching my finger. But give me a few seconds to center myself. And remember, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “You’ve got this. We’ve got this.”

  I get myself into a comfortable position, and close my eyes. My heart is going crazy, because this time, I’m trying something new. Something I’ve never been able to do before. “Calm down,” I chant to myself.

  My mind begins to blank. A beautiful scenario of an open field with tall grass and brightly colored wildflowers appears in my mind. I’m transported to a place of peace and serenity. The warm sun beams her angelic rays upon my face. Her gift of light makes my heart happy. “Beautiful,” I murmur as I tilt my head up to soak in her vitamin D.

  As if I’m in a time machine, I’m rushed into a room. I stand in the corner, and watch as Dallas and I sit on the bed, me trying to control my gift, and Dallas helping me. “I can’t do it,” I cry in frustration.

  And just as quickly as I’m in the vision, I’m out of it and sitting on the bed. Opening my eyes, I look at Dallas. Her eyes eagerly look at me. “So?” she asks.

  “It didn’t work, I can’t do it.”

  “Bullshit, Lexi. Make it work. Try it again.” She holds her hand up to me. “Again.”

  “Same, okay?” I ask. She nods her head.

  Closing my eyes, I’m easily transported back to the field. “That was easy,” I murmur, surprising even myself. While I walk through the field, the palms of my hands touching the tall grass and wild flowers, I’m sucked out of it and thrown into our room. I stand and watch us. I try to take myself out of this vision.